Copernical Team
Surprising details leap out in Webb Telescope Jupiter images
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The latest images of Jupiter from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are stunners. Captured on July 27, the infrared images - artificially colored to make specific features stand out - show fine filigree along the edges of the colored bands and around the Great Red Spot and also provide an unprecedented view of the auroras over the north and south poles.
One wide-field image presents a Perseverance Soon Heads to 'Enchanted Lake'
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After an extended stay at "Wildcat Ridge," the Perseverance team is preparing to head southwest to another sedimentary outcrop on the Jezero Crater delta called Enchanted Lake. This site has enchanted our science team since we first visited it back April.
The drive to "Enchanted Lake" is expected to begin in the next few days with arrival in early September.
Before beginning the driv Webb's Jupiter images showcase auroras, hazes
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With giant storms, powerful winds, auroras, and extreme temperature and pressure conditions, Jupiter has a lot going on. Now, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured new images of the planet. Webb's Jupiter observations will give scientists even more clues to Jupiter's inner life.
"We hadn't really expected it to be this good, to be honest," said planetary astronomer Imke de Pater, Leanspace and Valispace team up to demonstrate the power of Digital Continuity in space mission management
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Numerous software tools are typically required throughout a space mission; from the mission conceptualization and satellite design, to testing the hardware, to running operations. Still today, this technology stack consists of independent systems that don't talk to each other, requiring manual movement of data, limiting automation and forcing engineering teams to work with different data sets. NASA rocket launch will test science package for future missions
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NASA will test new science equipment for future missions with a sounding rocket launch August 22 from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The Sporadic-E ElectroDynamics Demonstration mission, or SpEED Demon, will fly new instrumentation along with heritage instruments that have flown on other sounding rocket missions, but not together. The SpEED Demon instruments will be further improved based on results from this launch and will subsequently fly on a science mission targeted for summer 2024 from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands and possibly many other sounding rocket opportunities.
SpEED Demon will launch on a 40-foot tall Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket between 9 p.m. EDT Aug. 22 and 1 a.m. Aug. 23. The backup launch dates are Aug. 23 through Aug. 27.
The NASA Wallops Visitor Center will open to the public at 8 p.m.
NASA targets 13 landing sites on moon's south pole for human landing
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NASA juggled light and dark to come up with 13 potential landing sites for the future Artemis III mission that will return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972.
Key to the choices was being able to find locations that could support the duo of astronauts for 6 1/2 days on the surface with enough sunlight to provide power and thermal protection, but also give access to the dark regions of craters and mountainous terrain near the moon's south pole that could potentially hold water ice.
Finding water ice, which could be broken down into its component oxygen and hydrogen compounds to provide life-sustaining air and potential fuel, has been the driving force behind the initial Artemis missions.
The uncrewed Artemis I rocket is at the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center awaiting a potential launch as soon as Aug. 29. Artemis II is slated to fly with astronauts in 2024, but only orbit the moon. The Artemis III flight is slated for 2025, and two of its four astronauts, including the first woman, will take a version of SpaceX's Starship to the lunar surface.
Jupiter showcases aurorae, hazes (NIRCam widefield view)
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Jupiter showcases aurorae, hazes (NIRCam widefield view) Surprising details leap out in sharp new James Webb Space Telescope images of Jupiter
New pics of Phobos from China's Tianwen-1 orbiter
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Two fundamental factors affect all astrophotography—timing and location. If a camera happens to be at the right place at the right time, it can capture images that have never been seen before. And with the proliferation of cameras throughout the solar system, more and more novel photos will be captured at an ever-increasing frequency. China's Tianwen-1 probe added to that novel collection to celebrate its second anniversary by taking a shot of Mars' moon Phobos.
The image itself is stunning, with clear definition of many features of the object, whose length isn't much more than that of Manhattan. Seen in full sunlight, or as we might call it on Earth, as a "full moon," there are some noticeable streaks in the upper left of the photo, which may indicate relatively recent impacts. In addition, a crater named Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik is visible in the upper right of the image. Other features, named after other astronomers and characters from Gulliver's Travels, aren't as clear on the image, as the space around the Öpik crater is largely featureless.
Growing alfalfa in Martian-like soil and filtering water using bacteria and Martian basalt
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A team of researchers at Iowa State University has found that it may be possible to grow alfalfa successfully on Mars. The group has written a paper describing their work and have published it on the open-access site PLOS ONE.
As various groups around the world ponder the possibility of not only sending humans to Mars but of building shelters on the Red Planet that could sustain them—possibly indefinitely—work continues on ways to make such projects possible. Such projects have many challenges to overcome before they can become reality, one of which is how to feed people living so far away.